A corpora



y W. H. McCLELLAND, In.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6. ma.

Patented Sept. 2,1919.

INVENTOR H. '7444. I Cl-Z-W 4 UNITED STATES PATENT onuion.

WILLIAM H. MOCLELLAND, J 3., WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 UNION SWITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SXVISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- TION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-TRAFFIC-CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent; Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

Original application filed April 16, 1917, Serial No. 162,259. Divided and this application filed September 6.

. 1918. Serial No. 252,942.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WV LLIAM H. MCCLEL- LAND, Jr, a citizen of the United States, residing at l/Vilkinsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Traffic-Controlling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification. a

My invention relates to railway traflic controlling apparatus, and particularly to apparatus for the control of railway switches. The present application isa division of my co-pending application filed A'pril16,

1917, Serial No. 162259, for circuit breakers.

Iwill describe one form of apparatus embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims. The accompanying drawing is a view, partly diagrammatic, showing one form tralfic controlling apparatus embodying my invention.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character 12 designates a railway switch, to which is connected one end ofan operating rod 13. Attached to the other end of this rod is a pin or roller 14 which is located in a cam slot 15 in a motion plate 16. An electric motor M, imparts longitudinal movement to the plate 16 through the medium of a gear 17 fixed to the motor shaft 18 and meshing with the toothed edge 19 of the motion plate. Such movement of the plate 16 in either direction causes the pin 11 to follow the course defined by the slot 15, and thereby impartslongitudinal movement to the operating rod 13. By this means, switch 12 is shifted from normalposition to reverse position or vice versa, according to the direction of movement of the motion plate 16.

The reference character 100 designates a cut-out switch for the motor M to de'e'nergize the motor after the railway switch has reached either of its extreme positions. I This cut-out switch, as here shown, comprises a bar 20 fixed to one end of the plate 16 for movement therewith, such bar beingformed with a longitudinally extending slot 21 of a length less than that of the cam slot A switch blade 22 pivoted at 2 3 is provided with a pin 24 which rides in the slot 21, so that when the bar 20 is moved by the plate 16, blade 22 will be moved toengage contact 25 or 26 according to the direction of movement of the bar. Owing to the length of the slot 21 and the-location of the blade 22,the shifting of the blade from contact to contact does not occur until the motion plate 16 has nearly reached the end of its stroke, so that the motor M ma be maintained energized during transit, of the switch but will be deiinergized after the switch has reached either of its extreme positions.

The switch operating motor M is supplied with current from a suitable source such as a battery 27, and the supply of current from this battery to the motor is governed in partby the cut-out switch 100 and in part by a circuit controller 200.. The circuit controller 200 comprises a switch blade 28 pivoted at 29 for engagement with either of a pair of contacts 30 and 31. The switch blade 28 is actuated by a motor M through the medium of a gear 32 fixed to the motor shaft and meshing with a rack bar 33, which latter is in turn connected tothe, switch blade 28, as shown.

The motor M is supplied with current from a battery 10, and this supply is controlled by a pole-changer 11 operated by a lever 11, which lever is usually one of a pluralityof similar levers in an interlocking machine i Included in the circuit of the switch operating motor M isa thermostatic circult breaker C, which device I will now describe. The circuitbreaker comprises a base plate B and a top plate T, formed of insulating material and supported in spaced relation by mcansofrods'R. An Lrshaped lever L is pivotally mounted for swinging movement upon a lug E formed on the base plate B, and thelong arm of thelever L is provided with insulating studs S which carry a flexible contact finger F. This contact finger is adapted to coact with a stationary contact G mounted on an angle bar H, which bar is secured to the upper side ofthe plate T by a binding post P. Interposed between the short arm of the lever L and the base plate B is an expansible spring K, which spring serves to bias the lever L outwardly, that is, toward such position that the contactFG is open. The finger F is held, at timesJin engagement with contact G against the'action'of the springK by means of a latching device generally indicated at D.

.This "latching device comprises a latching lever d pivotally, 'connected at one endtoi a lin'lrd, Which latter in turn is pivotally mounted on the base plate B. The free end of the lever d is forniedvvitlfahook' d for engagement With a pin d secured to the free I end of the long arm of the lever L.

A designates a trlpplng arm for raising latching lever cl awa fiend the lever L. This arm is pivoted at one of its ends to abraeket Z secured to and "depending from the top plate T. 1 Th'e'trippin'g 'arni Ais biased 'u'p Wardly by a contractile spring a K ,1" the lower end of the s ring being connected to the lever 'adjacent' the free endthereo f While its upper end is connected to 'a screw Vhd: justably mounted in the top plate T. block Q formed of insulating material is secured to the upper side of the lever adjacent its free "end to engage the latching lever d, and so 't0"release the latching lev'er j from-lever L when the arinAfstvingsup- Wardl'y. 'U'p'vva'rd movement of "the lever Ais normally prevented by a thermostat'X,

fornae'd of material having a large c'ofeflic'ient of exp an'sion'; sucl1," fore ainple,' asGe nia'n' silver. One "end j of this ire '5 passes freely" through a aopemngs in the bracket v Z and is attached to a sfcrevfV jadjlistahl'y mounted in a second brac'ket Z. The cupbsite end of the tvire X is suitably secured to the outer end of the trippi'iig'lever A,i'a"s shown, such end, 'hoWever,

by the Wire is maintained in parallel' relw tio'n tot he jlever'A throiighout itsentire length. The brackets Z "and Z. are spaced apart by 'a'block Y of insulating niaterial,

and are provided vvith binding po'stsP aI'1d P respectively, arranged upon the upper side of thetopplate T," 'as shoWI'1-,

'By connecting the binding posts 'P and P by a conducting Wire W, itl'vvill be I evident from the' precedingdescriptionthat the contact F 'G When'jclo'sedis in electrical cornmunication with thebiiiding post P 'threugh WireIlV- postfP, bracket Z,'ar1n wire X;

and bracket Z". a As shown in the drawing, the f'circ uit breaker C is-in set position; that isfthe latching"device D is'inengag'e'nient with lever" L so that "the. contact finger-F is held in closed position. "By properlyadjiisting thejte'nsion of the. spring Kjand. of the Wire K, through the mediunrof their respective screws V, and lV," the forces exerted upon the tripping lever A hysuch members may be so controlled that when current. of u a "predetermined, value or less flows in ire X, or vvhen current. o f a higher value flows momentarily -in this Wire, the arm A is maintained in its inactive position. With the circuit breaker in this osition, as-

"extending through a block J, secured; tothelever v'vheresume that current of greater than the predeterm-inedvalue flows through ire X for a a considerable length: of t1n1e.'z This current Will heat the Wire to such-adegree, that the expansion of the Wire is suflicient to allow ttrin A't'o rise *a'nd'liftlatching lever cl away from the pin 03*, thus allowing contact FG to open. Current then ceases to flow through reset *o'hclosedby the means hereinafter described.

vWire X, so that this Wire cools off anddraWs v Themeans for'resetting the circuitbreaker I com rises-adisk or'tvheel N' hichfis o'pera tive'ly cohhected With the motor M of the circuit controller'2'00. The diskfN is opera ti'vely''c'c'nnected"tothe latching devicefD by A ali'nk U, oneehd of thelinlrbein'g eccentrically fr'no'unte d upon the 'disk while f its opposite end is p'ivotedlyconnected'to the link d7; cleckvvise orjcounter-clockwise is restricted 'tdsiibstantial'ly one revolution by means of Movement of the disk Neither diskand aidapted to 'en'gage a S tOp O, ,From tl1'1s"coi1 "struct1on and arran ement; it will i to 'rotatejinone'direction or the otheiylongi 'tudinal' movement: is imparted to'the latch fing'leverdthfoughfthe' iniedium of the disk By virtue Qf this movement of the latching lever, it "Will' be obvious that when the trip; a plug lever A returns to its normalposition' due to the Cooling cf the Wire X, as previous'lyfdescribed, and, the meter M is enere 9.5" fN," '0d"Uiand link will be understood' h I 'giied, the latchingdever'is inoved forwardto cause" thehcok' jc'l r to engage, the pin clt, andth'eniearwardto return the lever L and i shown "in: the fnorinaldpos'ition, and the other, parts o'f'the apparatus are shownin the 13081110115"COIfI'BSPODdHIg to this position of tliel's'vvitch. "When it is desired 'to'inove I 'thestvitch 12 to its"reverse position, pole changer 11 manually reversed, whereby currentlfrorn battery 10 isfsuppl'ied 'to anotor 'M in such direction asto cause counterclockwise rotation of pinion 32 ml disk-N. The rotation of disk N causes operation of a and again closethis contact. "The rotation of gear-32 causes rack 'bar 33 to be drawn to the right, thereby shifting-switch blade 28 from contact 31 to contact 30. When both a u a a la chlng device D' to open-the'contact5FG of these contact operations have been completed, current is supplied to the motor M traversing the thermo-wire X, this wire is so proportioned that the heat generated therein by the current which flows while the motor M is running is insuflicieut to expand the wire to such degree as to cause arm A to release the circuit breaker. Furthermore, although a comparatively heavy current flows through wire X while the motor l/ is starting, the duration of this heavy current is insufficient to cause wire X to expand sufficiently to trip the circuit breaker. As the motion plate 16 approachesthe end of its stroke, the end of the slot 21 engages pin 24, causing switch blade 22 to swing into engagement with contact 26, thereby excluding the battery 27 from the motor circuit and so causing deenergization of the motor M.

To throw the switch 12 from reverse to normal position, pole-changer 11 is returned to the position shown in the drawing, whereby motor M will be energized to rotate in clockwise direction. The consequent return of switch blade 28 to the position shown in the drawing will cause motor M to be reversely energized through the following circuit: from battery 27, through wires 40 and 41, contact 31, blade 28, wire 38, motor M. wire 35, etc., to blade 22, contact. 26, wires 42 and 36 to battery 27. i

If the motor M should stall for any reason while moving the switch, an excessive current will traverse the motor circuit, but such excessive current will heat the thermostatic wire X to such a degree as to expand the same sufficiently to cause arm A to trip the circuit breaker. Contact FG then being opened, the circuit for the motor M is of necessity disrupted, thus preventing injury to the motor or to other apparatus in the motor circuit.

Should the stalling of the motor M be caused by some obstruction between the switch rails and track rails, it is obvious that after the wire X has cooled sufliciently, the pole-changer 11 may be shifted, thus re-setting the circuit breaker and thereby causing the motor M to return the switch operating mechanism to its original position ready to make another attempt to crush the obstruction.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of railway trafiic controlling apparatus embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: i

1 In combination, a railway switch operating mechanism including a motor, a source of energy for said motor, a circuit controller interposed between said motor and said source of energy, a second motor for actuating said circuit controller; a circuit breaker, a thermostat included in said circuit breaker and connected in series with the first-mentioned motor, and means actuated by said second motor for closing said circuit breaker.

2. In combination, a railway traific controlling mechanism including a motor and a source of current therefor, a circuit controller interposed between said motor and source of current, a second motor for actuating said circuit controller; a circuit breaker comprising a contact for controlling said first mentioned motor circuit and biased to an open position, a latching device for said contact, a thermostat connected in series with said first mentioned motor and capable of actuating said latching device to release said contact, and means operable by said second motor under predetermined conditions for restoring said latching device to latching engagement with said contact.

3. In combination, a railway switch, a

switch motor for causing reverse movements thereof, a circuit for said motor including a source of current and a circuit breaker contact biased to open position, a latch cooperating with said contact for closing the contact and holding it in closedposition, a circuit controller including a second motor capable of reverse operations for governing the supply of current to said switch motor from said source, a thermostat included in the circuit of said switch motor for releasing said latch to allow said circuit breaker contact to open, and means controlled by said second motor and operating each time that the circuit controller is reversed to actuate said latch to close the circuit breaker contact.

4:. In combination, a railway switch, a switch motor for causing reverse movements thereof, a circuit for said motor including a source of current. and a circuit breaker contact biased to open position, a thermostat included in said motor circuit for causing said contact to open when an excessive current flows in said circuit for an excessive length of time, a circuit controller capable of reverse operations for governing the supply of current to said motor from said source, and means controlled by said circuit controller for closing said circuit breaker contact each time that the circuit controller is reversed.

5. In combination, a railway sWitch, a switch motor for causing reverse movements thereof, a circuit for said motor including a source of 'currentanda circuitribreaker contact biased to open position, a thermostat includedi inc said motor circuit for causing said contact to open when an excessive current'flows in said circuit for an excessive length of-ti1ne,.a circuit controller adjacent Copies otd thissrpatent may be obtainedjtor ei-ease interlockingmachine including a lever for control of said circuit controller,-and means controlled by saidv circuit, controller. -for closing said circuit breaker contact-each time that the circuitrcontroller is reversed.

In testimony whereof Laflix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses. WILLIAM H. MCCLELLAND, J

lfVitnesses D. G. W LoH,

H LDA H M. VVHARTON.

five cents each, by'addressing' the Commissioneroffat ent Washington,v D. G. a i 

